DENVER – The New Mexico State women’s soccer team was projected to finish sixth in the Western Athletic Conference as voted by the league’s head coaches. Senior forward Aileen Galicia was named to the Preseason All-WAC team.

The Aggies return eight starters from last year’s squad that led the WAC in points (120) and goals (42), including All-WAC recipients Dmitri Fong and Galicia. Galicia was NM State’s second-leading scorer in 2017 with 25 points (10g, 5a), while Fong set the New Mexico State single-season record for shutouts (5).

Missouri-Kansas City was tabbed to win the conference and Utah Valley was picked to finish second. The Wolverines captured the 2017 WAC Tournament championship in penalty kicks over Kansas City who finished 2017 as the WAC regular-season champions with a perfect 7-0 record.

The league’s head coaches picked Grand Canyon and Seattle to finish third and fourth, respectively, while Texas-Rio Grande Valley is projected to finish fifth. Cal State Bakersfield was picked to finish seventh with WAC newcomer California Baptist picked eighth and Chicago State rounding out the preseason rankings.

New Mexico State kicks off the Rob Baarts era in Tempe, Arizona, with an exhibition match on Sunday against Arizona State at 4 p.m. The regular-season gets underway on Aug. 17, at 8 p.m. on the road against San Diego State. NM State plays its home opener on Aug. 26, at 1 p.m. against Pacific.